This thesis covers the study of an actively assisted passive walker with discontinuous and impulsive actuation. The dynamics of the passive and active portions are derived, and a comprehensive mathematical model is proposed. An actuation method is also proposed to study the use of multiple discrete actuation events in a walking gait. Two key cases are considered: actuation at the stance point and at the EA point of a non-kneed walker. An experimental walker was designed that is capable of passive walking and has an experimental implementation of the proposed actuation system. A thorough characterization of the model is then performed, with experimental validation to show that: at high ramp angles, energy injection results in an increase in BOA of ~38% on a stable walking gait at a Ct of 0.086, and at low ramp angles, injection results in a stride length increase of ~29% at a Ct of 0.06.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MANITOBA/oai:mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca:1993/30369 |
| Date | 09 April 2015 |
| Creators | Balakrishnan, Nishant |
| Contributors | Wu, Christine Q. (Mechanical Engineering), Ruth, Douglas (Mechanical Engineering) Szturm, Tony (Medical Rehabilitation) |
| Source Sets | University of Manitoba Canada |
| Detected Language | English |
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